Dear Dhammachari Chandrashekar, < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
You will have received my email (given below here), after my telephonic conversation with you… I feel very grateful you have accepted to speak to us on Nov 9th.Meanwhile, may I request you send me your bio-data. It could be sent by email to my ID above or by post to my address (Fr Ronnie
Prabhu, Fatima Retreat House, Kankanady, Mangalore 575 002).
Dear Dhammachari Chandrashekar,,
It was a joy to talk to you today and I am grateful you have accepted to speak to us on Friday 9 November, the second day of our three day Kristotsava festival. I am grateful also to Banthe Ananda for speaking to you about this.
We expect to have around a thousand Catholics from different part of Karnataka. Though educated, a good number of them will not be able to speak in English and we would appreciate you talking in Kannada, with a mixture of English!
It is our conviction that we will be helped in this if we can see ourselves also as others see us. So we are requesting a representative form each major religious community to give us a feedback covering the following questions:
What in the message of Jesus strikes a chord in you and what do you like about Christianity Where do you find the Christians and the Church in our times in India falling short of the teachings of Christ
You will necessarily have to do some plain speaking and the reason why we are approaching you is that you are one who can speak the truth with love.
The Kristostsava festival will be held in the Good Shepherd Convent Hall, < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />
I know you are extremely busy with many concerns and I am happy and grateful you will still do this for us. This invitation comes to you from the Catholic Bishops of Karnataka, who are the organizers of this program. Writing on their behalf, I convey their great appreciation and gratitude to you.
Yours sincerely,
Ronnie Prabhu
With regards,
Ronnie Prabhu
Bio data
Dear Most Reverend Ronnie Prabhu
I am grateful to your Kind self and Venerable Ananda Bhante for asking me to do some plain speaking of truth with love to you on Friday 9th November 2007, the second day of the three day Kristotsava festival.
I informed Venerable Anand Bhante that I wish to present a prepared speech on that occasion. I have already started preparing the speech. Hence this delay in giving you my bio-data.
My prepared speech will be sent you your kind self and Venerable Anand Bhante.
In fact if all the speakers do the same and if I get a copy of the same I wish to publish in http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org.
I hope you are visiting that site.
Also I will be very grateful to your kind self if you can prepare a speech on
What is the message of The Buddha strikes a Chord in you and what do you like about Buddhism. Where do you find the Buddhists and Monasteries in our times in Jambudvipa that is The Great Prabuddha Bharath falling short of the Practice of the Doctrine of the Buddha.
The other speakers may also be asked to prepare on the above subject to enable me to publish the same in http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org on the occasion of completion 2550th Buddha Jayanthi.
Bio-data
A Peaceful Revolution
At the age of 65 Dhammachari Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan is one of the most senior members of Mahabodhi Society
My parents followed some other culture out of ignorance of the fact that more than 98% were original inhabitants of Jambudvipa that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath. After visiting a slaughter house in childhood, the suffering of the animals those were slaughtered developed loving kindness and compassion. While human beings were cremated or buried in the grave yards. It was observed that the birds, fishes and domestic animals were in double trouble. They were cremated in the kitchen crematoriums, after storing them in refrigerator mortuaries and buried in the mobile human beings grave yards that are their stomachs.
Then step by step I started training my mind and started practicing abstaining from the taking of life that leads to longevity, abstaining from stealing to prosperity, abstaining from sexual misconduct to popularity, abstaining from false speech to a good reputation, and abstaining from intoxicants to mindfulness and wisdom.
Attended Pabajja and Vipassana and Zen Meditation Practice
To preserve the practice of the Triple Gem in the mind, the body is kept in a fit condition by daily cycling for 10 Km and swimming. Participated in State, National competitions and would participate in International events.
Practice to endure being contented and satisfied with little; eating little, sleeping little, speaking little and living in moderation. By doing this we can put an end to worldliness.
Retired as Senior Manger (Design) Aircraft Research and Design Centre, involved in designing passenger Aircrafts in HAL Bangalore .
Dear Most Reverend Ronnie Prabhu
Thank you very much for your mail.
I will come on my own.
If you prepare a talk on Buddha, kindly mail it to me.
Now many people are returning back to their own home i.e., Buddhism, after realizing the true fact that they are the original inhabitants of Jambudvipa i.e., The Great Prabuddha Bharath, since every one in this world are for the gain of the many and welfare of the many and wish to live a very happy and peaceful life.
We are all part of this one family of humankind and that is one reason that your kind self is able to bring all of us together. If this exercise continues, it will set an example to the whole world as how to live in peace. This is possible in this country since we originally belong to that one family. I also sincerely feel that if all the invited speakers could prepare talks on different religions and exchange amongst each other that will go a long way.
I have prepared the following presentation for 9th November 2007. I discussed with Venerable Anand Bhante and decided to send the same to your kind self for amendments if need be.
It was very easy for me to get the translation in English. But it will be very difficult to get it translated to any other languages including Kannada. Hence I would like to make this written presentation with any amendments you would like to make in the larger interest of mankind. I have no attachment to my presentation.
If I talk in Kannada or any other languages, the murder of the language will be keenly observed by the audience. But that will not happen when it is presented in English. Since it is a prepared presentation one can translate at leisure.
With Kind regards and
Lots of Metta
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan
Presentation
Most Respected Reverend Ronnie Prabhu, Venerable Nidumamidi Swamiji, Dr Taha Mateen and Honourable < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />
I am very grateful to Venerable Anand Bhante, Reverend Ronnie Prabhu, Catholic Bishops of Karnataka who are the organizers of this program on whose invitation this presentation is made for the benefit of this learned august house of Original Inhabitants of Jambudvipa that is The Great Prabuddha Bharath.
As the purpose of this get-together is to do some introspection as to
whether as a Christian community we are living up to expectations of our faith.
If faith is “the substance of things hoped for,” then worry is the substance of things dreaded (Hebrews 3:6). Worry is destructive. It fritters away time. It kills creativity and it often is a prophet of its own self-fulfilling doom. Most of all worry keeps us from claiming the blessings God has for us. It prevents us from living up to the fullness of our creation and finding joy in life. How do you fight worry and build faith?
Danema, 48,
I’ve come to stand on God’s word, “As a man thinketh, so is he”. Since God gave us the freedom of choice. Why is it so hard to “choose” not to worry? I’ve pondered this question many times, realizing as scripture reveals that all things are rooted in either fear or love. Since I know God is love and I believe God loves me…then I have to question any and all thoughts of doubt and negativity as to its root. I ask myself, is there truth to this thought of doubt or negativity? Is it based on love or fear? Exercising the power of choice, or should I say the gift of choice, is what I have to do daily. This goes along with the scripture that says, Examine each thought carefully. And also what the word says about meditating on the word, meditating on truth day and night… So therefore, I make a decision and choose to “meditate” on the positive, standing in faith using prayer as a tool and wait in expectation from my the best to come out of the situation, praising God all the way. And then I get up each morning and start all over again, exercising my muscles of faith. When I need more strength, I call on God even more
Coming to the Center< ?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml” /> 
Try watching a spider. A spider spins its web in any convenient niche and then sits in the center, staying still and silent. Later, a fly comes along and lands on the web. As soon as it touches and shakes the web, “boop!” — The spider pounces and winds it up in thread. It stores the insect away and then returns again to collect itself silently in the center of the web.
Watching a spider like this can give rise to wisdom. Our six senses have mind at the center surrounded by eye, ear, nose, tongue and body. When one of the senses is stimulated, for instance, form contacting the eye, it shakes and reaches the mind. The mind is that which knows, that which knows form. Just this much is enough for wisdom to arise. It’s that simple.
Like a spider in its web, we should live keeping to ourselves. As soon as the spider feels an insect contact the web, it quickly grabs it, ties it up and once again returns to the center. This is not at all different from our own minds. “Coming to the center” means living mindfully with clear comprehension, being always alert and doing everything with exactness and precision — this is our center. There’s really not a lot for us to do; we just carefully live in this way. But that doesn’t mean that we live heedlessly thinking, “There is no need to do sitting or walking meditation!” and so forget all about our practice. We can’t be careless! We must remain alert just as the spider waits to snatch up insects for its food.
This is all that we have to know — sitting and contemplating that spider. Just this much and wisdom can arise spontaneously. Our mind is comparable to the spider, our moods and mental impressions are comparable to the various insects. That’s all there is to it! The senses envelop and constantly stimulate the mind; when any of them contact something, it immediately reaches the mind. The mind then investigates and examines it thoroughly, after which it returns to the center. This is how we abide — alert, acting with precision and always mindfully comprehending with wisdom. Just this much and our practice is complete.
This point is very important! It isn’t that we have to do sitting practice throughout the day and night, or that we have to do walking meditation all day and all night long. If this is our view of practice, then we really make it difficult for ourselves. We should do what we can according to our strength and energy, using our physical capabilities in the proper amount.
It’s very important to know the mind and the other senses well. Know how they come and how they go, how they arise and how they pass away. Understand this thoroughly! In the language of Doctrine-True Practice of The Path Shown by The Blessed, Noble, Awakened One we can also say that, just as the spider traps the various insects, the mind binds up the senses with impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, not-self. Where can they go? We keep them for food; these things are stored away as our nourishment. That’s enough; there’s no more to do, just this much! This is the nourishment for our minds, nourishment for one who is aware and understanding.
If you know that these things are impermanent, bound up with suffering and that none of it is you, and then you would be crazy to go after them! If you don’t see clearly in this way, then you must suffer. When you take a good look and see these things as really impermanent, even though they may seem worth going after, really they are not. Why do you want them when their nature is pain and suffering? It’s not ours, there is no self, and there is nothing belonging to us. So why are you seeking after them? All problems are ended right here. Where else will you end them?
Just take a good look at the spider and turn it inwards, turn it back unto yourself. You will see that it’s all the same. When the mind has seen impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, not-self, it lets go and releases itself. It no longer attaches to suffering or to happiness. This is the nourishment for the mind of one who practices and really trains himself. That’s all, it’s that simple! You don’t have to go searching anywhere! So no matter what you are doing, you are there, no need for a lot of fuss and bother. In this way the momentum and energy of your practice will continuously grow and mature.
[The Evil One]
Those with children
Delight
Because of their children.
Those with cattle
Delight
because of their cows.
A person’s delight
Comes from acquisitions,
Since a person with no acquisitions
doesn’t delight.
[The Blessed, Noble, Awakened One:] 
Those with children
Grieve
because of their children.
Those with cattle
Grieve
because of their cows.
A person’s grief
Comes from acquisitions,
Since a person with no acquisitions
Doesn’t grieve.
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Then the Evil One — sad & dejected at realizing, “The Blessed One knows me; the One Well-Gone knows me” — vanished right there.
Shot into the night {bad people}
If, by forsaking
A limited ease,
He would see
An abundance of ease,
The awakened man
Would forsake
The limited ease
For the sake
Of the abundant.
He wants his own ease
By giving others dis-ease.
Intertwined in the inter-
Action of hostility,
From hostility
He’s not set free.
In those who
Reject what should,
& do what shouldn’t be done
— Heedless, insolent —
Effluents grow.
But for those who
Are well-applied, constantly,
To mindfulness immersed in the body;
Don’t indulge
In what shouldn’t be done
& persist
In what should
— Mindful, alert —
Effluents come to an end.
Having killed mother & father,
Two warrior kings,
The kingdom & its dependency —
The invader, untroubled, travels on.
Having killed mother & father,
Two learned kings,
&, fifth, a tiger —
The invader, untroubled, travels on.
They awaken, always wide awake:
Blessed, Noble, Awakened One’s disciples
Whose mindfulness, both day & night,
Is constantly immersed
In the Blessed, Noble, Awakened One’s.
They awaken, always wide awake:
Blessed, Noble, Awakened One’s disciples
Whose mindfulness, both day & night,
Is constantly immersed
In the Doctrine-Practice of Path Shown by The Blessed, Noble, Awakened One.
They awaken, always wide awake:
Blessed, Noble, Awakened One’s disciples
Whose mindfulness, both day & night,
Is constantly immersed
In the Spiritual Community of The True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed, Noble, Awakened One.
They awaken, always wide awake:
Blessed, Noble, Awakened One-’s disciples
Whose mindfulness, both day & night,
Is constantly immersed
In the body.
They awaken, always wide awake:
Blessed, Noble, Awakened One-’s disciples
Whose minds delight, both day & night,
In harmlessness.
They awaken, always wide awake:
Blessed, Noble, Awakened One’s disciples
Whose minds delight, both day & night,
In developing the mind.
Hard is the life gone forth?
Hard to delight in.
Hard is the miserable
Householder’s life.
It’s painful to stay with dissonant people,
Painful to travel the road.
So be neither traveler
Nor pained.
The man of conviction
Endowed with virtue,
Glory & wealth:
Wherever he goes
He is honored.
The good shine from afar
Like the snowy Himalayas .
The bad don’t appear
Even when near,
Like arrows shot into the night.
Sitting alone,
Resting alone,
Walking alone,
Untiring.
Taming himself,
He’d delight alone —
Alone in the forest.
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Whether we are truly followers of Christ and what steps we should take to revitalize ourselves in the path of Christ.
What in the message of Jesus strikes a chord in you and what do you like about Christianity Where do you find the Christians and the Church in our times in India falling short of the teachings of Christ
Buddhist views
Buddhism and Christianity (are two major religions that are compared and contrasted by scholars, with parallels between the two revolving around perceived similarities in the teachings and in the spiritual intent and practices. Given these correspondences, questions arise as to their origins, influences, and interaction. Scholars remain divided on whether the religious parallels are coincidental, or arising from separate but similar developments, or the result of a direct or indirect influence of Buddhism on early Christianity).
Buddhists’ views of Jesus differ, since Jesus is not mentioned in any Buddhist text. Some Buddhists, including Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama[124] regard Jesus as a bodhisattva ( are motivated by the wish to benefit other beings and to lead them to awakenment). who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings. Both Jesus and Buddha advocated radical alterations in the common religious practices of the day. There are occasional similarities in language, such as the use of the common metaphor of a line of blind men to refer to religious authorities with whom they disagreed [125][126]. Some believe there is a particularly close affinity between Buddhism (or Eastern spiritual thought generally) and the doctrine of Gnostic texts such as The Gospel of Thomas[127]
Now, some people confuse the clay pot with the treasure. They think if the church and Christians aren’t perfect, they are not worth considering. Hey, wait a minute. The only way you can get into a church is to admit you are a sinner and you need help.
The church is a place
where people who are spiritually sick can get well,
where people who are unconnected with God can connect,
where folks who are ignorant of spiritual truth can learn,
and where self-centered people can learn to love and serve.
I mean, do you criticize a hospital because it has sick people in it?
Do you criticize a school because it has people in it who don’t know everything?
Paul says we are like earthen cookware. The reason we need to keep this image of ourselves, he says, is so that we remember the power and the glory is not in ourselves but in the treasure. Well, let’s talk about the treasure.
The Treasure 
Paul spends the rest of the chapter talking about the treasure we have in Christ. The Christ-treasure I will call it. It is completely differently from most human treasure. Like, most human treasures are in a specific location like a vault, or a lock box.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s
Like most hidden treasures it was buried in a specific place.
Contrast please with the treasure we have in Christ.
The Christ-treasure is buried not in a geographical location but in the minds of his disciples. Listen to the Apostle:
“We always carry around in our body . . . Jesus.” (2 Cor. 4:10) God has chosen us to “carry around” his treasure.
Maybe most important, we don’t find the Christ-treasure, the Christ treasure has already found us. In Christ’s eyes, we are the treasure. And we’ve been found. But we hold the key to the lock on your mind. You can say to the Lord, enter, or stay away.
Don’t miss this:
A human treasure is to be protected. Consider how rare jewels are placed in secure places. Bank vaults with security alarms paint the picture.
How different is the gift of our Lord. The Christ-treasure doesn’t seek to be protected at all. In fact, it prefers to lead us into the battles of life. It is more like an infantryman than a security officer. Listen as Paul describes how aggressive the Christ-treasure is.
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
Perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not abandoned;
Struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4:8,9)
You see, we don’t so much push Christ into a safe place as Christ walks with us when life pushes us into a land mine. Christ is a treasure you can take with you in life, in suffering, and even in death and the resurrection.
“Therefore we do not lose mind. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor. 4:10-12)
There had been some difficult days as a church family recently. Eight times in the last two weeks they have stood at opened graves and grieved with those who are left behind. Their minds have been broken. Remember that we have no immunity from life as believers, only the infectious presence of the One who died on the cross and conquered death. When we are stripped of everything we expected, we discover He is there and our church is there. In the end the treasure and the earthen vessel remain.
The late Henri Nouwen, the Catholic Priest who taught as Yale and Notre Dame spent his last years at a Retreat center for handicapped adults near
When Nouwen arrived the Chaplain was waiting for him along with others who had been invited. “Where’s Trevor?” asked Henri. “You will see him after dinner explained the Chaplain. The patients are not allowed to eat with the guests…” “But I am here to see Trevor,” said Nouwen. “That is impossible,” said the Chaplain, “because you see we are having dinner in the Golden Room and patients are not allowed to eat there.”
Nouwen was completely taken by surprise and said, “If Trevor does not eat I will not eat. If Trevor can’t come to the Golden Room I will not be eating there either.” That brought on some serious whispering. Henri went looking for Trevor and found him as always looking for flowers. He saw Henri and ran to him and said, “Here, I brought you some flowers.” Finally they said, “Alright we will invite Trevor.”
Trevor sat by Nouwen. As is usual, drinks came first. Nouwen poured Trevor a coke. The mood was somewhat serious as guests became acquainted with one another. Suddenly Trevor stood up and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, a toast,” as he held his coke up. Everyone looked up partly anxious and partly embarrassed. Nouwen said later he could read their thoughts: “What in the heck is this patient going to do? Better be careful.”
Trevor, like a little child, seemed to have no worries. He began to sing, “When you’re happy and you know it, lift your glass, when you’re happy when you know it lift your glass.” As he sang, people’s faces relaxed and started to sing and not long after everyone was standing and singing under Trevor’s direction.
Trevor’s toast changed the whole mood in the Golden Room that day. He had brought strangers together and made them feel at home. His beautiful smile and fearless joy turned a place of sorrow and joy into a place of blessing.
Maybe the church is like Trevor, not invited to many Golden Rooms. But don’t count us out. At surprising times we wind up giving blessings to those who walk through difficult, difficult times.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels!
Kindly visit:
http://earthenvesselsweb.org/CMS/index.php
The Trap of the Senses
The THE BLESSED NOBLE AWAKENED ONE talked about desire and the six things by which desire is gratified: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects. Desire and lust for happiness, for suffering, for good, for evil and so on, pervade everything!
Sights… there isn’t any sight that’s quite the same as that of a woman. Isn’t that so? Doesn’t a really attractive woman make you want to look? One with a really attractive figure comes walking along, “sak, sek, sak, sek, sak, sek,” — you can’t help but stare! How about sounds? There’s no sound that grips you more than that of a woman. It pierces your mind! Smell is the same; a woman’s fragrance is the most alluring of all. There’s no other smell that’s quite the same. Taste — even the taste of the most delicious food cannot compare with that of a woman. Touch is similar; when you caress a woman you are stunned, intoxicated and sent spinning all around.
There was once a famous master of magical spells 
from Taxila in ancient Jambudvipa That is The Great Prabuddha Bharath. He taught his disciple all his knowledge of charms and incantations. When the disciple was well-versed and ready to fare on his own, he left with this final instruction from his teacher, “I have taught you all that I know of spells, incantations and protective verses. Creatures with sharp teeth, 
Antlers or horns, 
and even big tusks, 
you have no need to fear. You will be guarded from all of these, I can guarantee that. However, there is only one thing that I cannot ensure protection against, and that is the charms of a woman. I can not help you here. There’s no spell for protection against this one, you’ll have to look after yourself.” 
Mental objects arise in the mind. They are born out of desire: desire for valuable possessions, desire to be rich, and just restless seeking after things in general. This type of greed isn’t all that deep or strong, it isn’t enough to make you faint or lose control. However, when sexual desire arises, you’re thrown off balance and lose your control. You would even forget those raised and brought you up — your own parents!
The THE BLESSED NOBLE AWAKENED ONE taught that the objects of our senses are a trap — a trap of the evil one’s. Evil One should be understood as something which harms us. The trap is something which binds us, the same as a snare. It’s a trap of the evil one’s, a hunter’s snare,
and the hunter is evil one.
If animals are caught in the hunter’s trap, it’s a sorrowful predicament. They are caught fast and held waiting for the owner of the trap snare springs and “boop” — caught by the neck! A good strong string now holds it fast. Wherever the bird flies, it cannot escape. It flies here and flies there, but it’s held tight waiting for the owner of the snare. When the hunter comes along, that’s it — the bird is struck with fear, there’s no escape!
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The trap of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects is the same. They catch us and bind us fast. If you attach to the senses, you’re the same as a fish caught on a hook. When the fisherman comes, struggle all you want, but you can’t get loose. Actually, you’re not caught like a fish, it’s more like a frog — a frog gulps down the whole hook right to its guts, a fish just gets caught in its mouth.
Anyone attached to the senses is the same. Like a drunk whose liver is not yet destroyed — he doesn’t know when he has had enough. He continues to indulge and drink carelessly. He’s caught and later suffers illness and pain.
A man comes walking along a road. He is very thirsty from his journey and is craving for a drink of water. The owner of the water says, “You can drink this water if you like; the color is good, the smell is good, the taste is good, but if you drink it you will become ill. I must tell you this beforehand, it’ll make you sick enough to die or nearly die.” The thirsty man does not listen. He’s as thirsty as a person after an operation that has been denied water for seven days — he’s crying for water!
It’s the same with a person thirsting after the senses. The THE BLESSED NOBLE AWAKENED ONE taught that they are poisonous — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects are poison; they are a dangerous trap. But this man is thirsty and doesn’t listen; because of his thirst he is in tears, crying, “Give me water, no matter how painful the consequences, let me drink!” So he dips out a bit and swallows it down finding it very tasty. He drinks his fill and gets so sick that he almost dies. He didn’t listen because of his overpowering desire.
This is how it is for a person caught in the pleasures of the senses. He drinks in sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects — they are all very delicious! So he drinks without stopping and there he remains, stuck fast until the day he dies.
“Now, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones, when touched with a feeling of pain, does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. So he feels one pain: physical, but not mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, did not shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pain of only one arrow. In the same way, when touched with a feeling of pain, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught. He feels one pain: physical, but not mental.
“As he is touched by that painful feeling, he is not resistant. No resistance-obsession with regard to that painful feeling obsesses him. Touched by that painful feeling, he does not delight in sensual pleasure. Why is that? Because the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones discerns an escape from painful feeling aside from sensual pleasure. As he is not delighting in sensual pleasure, no passion-obsession with regard to that feeling of pleasure obsesses him. He discerns, as it actually is present, the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from that feeling. As he discerns the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, and escape from that feeling, no ignorance-obsession with regard to that feeling of neither-pleasure-nor-pain obsesses him.
“Sensing a feeling of pleasure, he senses it disjoined from it. Sensing a feeling of pain, he senses it disjoined from it. Sensing a feeling of neither-pleasure-nor-pain, he senses it disjoined from it. This is called a well-instructed disciple of the noble ones disjoined from birth, aging, & death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. He is disjoined, I tell you, from suffering & stress.
“This is the difference, this distinction, this the distinguishing factor between the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones and the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person.”
The discerning person, learned,
Doesn’t sense a (mental) feeling of pleasure or pain:
This is the difference in skillfulness
Between the sage & the person run-of-the-mill.
For a learned person
Who has fathomed the Doctrine-Practice of the Path Shown by the Blessed, Noble, Awakened One,
Clearly seeing this world & the next,
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
Undesirable ones bring no resistance.
His acceptance
& rejection are scattered,
Gone to their end,
Do not exist.
Knowing the dustless, sorrow less state,
He discerns rightly,
Has gone, beyond becoming,
To the Further Shore.
“When embraced,
The rod of violence
Breeds danger & fear:
Look at people quarreling.
I will tell of how
I experienced
Dismay.
Seeing people floundering
Like fish in small puddles,
Competing with one another —
As I saw this,
Fear came into me.
The world was entirely
Without substance.
All the directions
Were knocked out of line.
Wanting a haven for myself,
I saw nothing that wasn’t laid claim to.
Seeing nothing in the end
But competition,
I felt discontent.
And then I saw
An arrow here,
So very hard to see,
Embedded in the heart.
Overcome by this arrow
You run in all directions.
But simply on pulling it out
You don’t run,
You don’t sink.
Whatever things are tied down in the world,
You shouldn’t be set on them.
Having totally penetrated
Sensual pleasures,
Sensual passions,
You should train for your own
Unbinding.
Be truthful, not insolent,
Not deceptive, rid
Of divisiveness.
Without anger, the sage
Should cross over the evil
Of greed & avarice.
He should conquer laziness,
Weariness,
Sloth;
Shouldn’t consort with heedlessness,
Shouldn’t stand firm in his pride —
The man with his mind set
On Unbinding.
He shouldn’t engage in lying,
Shouldn’t create a sense of allure in form,
Should fully fathom conceit,
And live refraining from impulsiveness;
Shouldn’t delight in what’s old,
Prefer what’s new,
Grieve over decline,
Get entangled in
What’s dazzling & bright?
I call greed
A ‘great flood’;
Hunger, a swift current.
Preoccupations are ripples;
Sensuality, a bog
Hard to cross over.
Not deviating from truth,
A sage stands on high ground
: A brahman.
Having renounced all,
He is said to be at peace;
Having clearly known, he
Is an attainer-of-wisdom;
Knowing the Doctrine-Practice of the True Path Shown by the Awakened One, he’s
Independent.
Moving rightly through the world,
He doesn’t envy
Anyone here.
Whoever here has gone over & beyond
Sensual passions —
An attachment hard
To transcend in the world,
Doesn’t sorrow,
Doesn’t fret.
He, his stream cut, is free
From bonds.
Burn up what’s before,
And have nothing for after.
If you don’t grasp
At what’s in between,
You will go about, calm.
For whom, in name & form,
In every way,
There’s no sense of mine,
And who doesn’t grieve
Over what is not:
He, in the world,
Isn’t defeated,
Suffers no loss.
To whom there doesn’t occur
‘This is mine,’
For whom nothing is others,’
Feeling no sense of mine-ness,
Doesn’t grieve at the thought
‘I have nothing.’
Not harsh,
Not greedy, not
Perturbed,
Everywhere
In tune:
This is the reward
— I say when asked —
For those who are free
From pre-
Conceptions.
For one unperturbed
— Who knows —?
There’s no accumulating.
Abstaining, unaroused,
He everywhere sees
Security.
The sage
Doesn’t speak of himself
As among those who are higher,
Equal,
Or lower.
At peace, free of selfishness,
He doesn’t embrace, doesn’t
Reject,”
The Blessed One said.
Thus abstaining from the taking of life leads to longevity, abstaining from stealing to prosperity, abstaining from sexual misconduct to popularity, abstaining from false speech to a good reputation, and abstaining from intoxicants to mindfulness and wisdom.
For one who desires
Long life, health,
Beauty, heaven, & noble birth,
— lavish delights, one after another —
The wise praise heedfulness
In performing deeds of merit.
When heedful, wise,
You achieve both kinds of benefit:
Benefits in this life,
& benefits in lives to come.
By breaking through to your benefit,
You’re called awakened,
Wise.
But one awakened & knowing,
On acquiring wealth,
Enjoys it & performs his duties.
He, a bull among men,
Having supported his kin,
Without blame
Goes to the land of heaven.
Sarvajan Hitay Sarvajan Sukhay-For The Gain of The Many and For The Welfare of The Many
http://www.indiaenews.com/politics/20071028/77582.htm
Snap polls likely after N-deal deadlock: Mayawati
From correspondents in Punjab, India, 08:32 PM IST
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Sunday called upon her party cadres to be prepared for early general elections thanks to the deadlock between the Congress and the Left parties over the India-US nuclear deal.
Addressing a rally here to mark the merger of a local party, Chandigarh Vikas Manch (CVM), with the BSP, she said: ‘BSP cadres and supporters should be ready for the next general elections as the nuclear deal is likely to lead to the fall of the government. The BSP will fight the elections on its own and the day is not far when we will rule the central government.
‘We will take the weaker sections and all other categories like upper castes and religious minorities with us to come to power at the centre,’ Mayawati declared.
The BSP leader, in her speech of nearly an hour, criticized the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for ignoring the needs of the common people.
‘These parties have done nothing for the common man. All they have done is to play to the gallery for capitalists and industrialists. They have contested all elections with the help of these capitalists. People should throw them out,’ Mayawati said.
She said a wrong impression had been created by vested interests that the BSP was a party only for the weaker and neglected sections of society.
‘We have shown in Uttar Pradesh that we are there not only for weaker sections but also for upper castes and religious minorities. We want to repeat this all over the country,’ the chief minister said.
Mayawati was presented with a gold crown and a sword by local BSP and CVM leaders. CVM president and former union minister Harmohan Dhawan announced the merger of his party with the BSP.
Mayawati declared that Dhawan will be the BSP candidate in any future Lok Sabha election for the Chandigarh seat.
The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata
(The Four Jhanas)
“Quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities, he enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman’s apprentice would pour bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, sprinkling it again and again with water, so that his ball of bath powder — saturated, moisture-laden, permeated within and without — would nevertheless not drip; even so, the True Follower of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata permeates… this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal.
“This is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime.
“Furthermore, with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, he enters and remains in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought and evaluation — internal assurance. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of composure. Just like a lake with spring-water welling up from within, having no inflow from the east, west, north, or south, and with the skies supplying abundant showers time and again, so that the cool fount of water welling up from within the lake would permeate and pervade, suffuse and fill it with cool waters, there being no part of the lake unpervaded by the cool waters; even so, the True Follower of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata permeates… this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of composure. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born of composure.
“This, too, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime.
“And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains in equanimity, is mindful & alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasurable abiding.’ He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture. Just as in a lotus pond, some of the lotuses, born and growing in the water, stay immersed in the water and flourish without standing up out of the water, so that they are permeated and pervaded, suffused and filled with cool water from their roots to their tips, and nothing of those lotuses would be unpervaded with cool water; even so, the monk permeates… this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested of rapture.
“This, too, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime.
“And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress — as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress — he enters and remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure nor stress. He sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness. Just as if a man were sitting covered from head to foot with a white cloth so that there would be no part of his body to which the white cloth did not extend; even so, the True Follower of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness.
“This, too, great king, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible here and now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime.
Rulership
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Kosalans in a wilderness hut in a Himalayan district. Then, as he was alone in seclusion, this train of thought arose in his awareness: “Is it possible to exercise rulership without killing or causing others to kill, without confiscating or causing others to confiscate, without sorrowing or causing others sorrow — righteously?”
Then the Evil One, knowing with his awareness the train of thought in the Blessed One’s awareness, went to him and on arrival said to him: “Exercise rulership, Blessed One! Exercise rulership, O One Well-gone! — without killing or causing others to kill, without confiscating or causing others to confiscate, without sorrowing or causing others sorrow — righteously!”
“But what do you see in me, Evil One, that you say to me, ‘Exercise rulership, Blessed One! Exercise rulership, O One Well-gone! — without killing or causing others to kill, without confiscating or causing others to confiscate, without sorrowing or causing others sorrow — righteously!’?”
“Lord, the Blessed One has developed the four bases of power, pursued them, handed them the reins and taken them as a basis, given them a grounding, steadied them, consolidated them, and undertaken them well. If he wanted to, he could resolve on the Himalayas, king of mountains, as gold, and it would become a mountain of gold.”
[The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata :]
The entirety of a mountain of gold, of solid bullion: even twice that wouldn’t suffice for one person. Knowing this, live evenly, in tune with the contemplative life. When you see stress, and from where it comes, how can you incline to sensual pleasures? Knowing acquisition to be a bond in the world, train for its subduing.
![](\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Moraine_lake.jpg\"){kind=link}
![](\"http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0511/Mountains_spitzer_f.jpg\"){kind=link}
Then the Evil One — sad & dejected at realizing, “The Blessed One knows me; the One Well-gone knows me” — vanished right there.
Doctrine-True Practice of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata
Living With the Cobra
(A brief talk given as final instruction to an elderly Englishwoman who spent two months under the guidance of Ajahn Chah at the end of 1978 and beginning of 1979.)
This short talk is for the benefit of a new disciple who will soon be returning to London. May it serve to help you understand the Teaching that you have studied here at Wat Pah Pong. Most simply, this is the practice to be free of suffering in the cycle of birth and death.
In order to do this practice, remember to regard all the various activities of mind, all those you like and all those you dislike, in the same way as you would regard a cobra. The cobra is an extremely poisonous snake, poisonous enough to cause death if it should bite us. And so, also, it is with our moods; the moods that we like are poisonous, the moods that we dislike are also poisonous. They prevent our minds from being free and hinder our understanding of the Truth as it was taught by the The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata.
Clipart of a Poisonous Cobra Snake
Thus is it necessary to try to maintain our mindfulness throughout the day and night. Whatever you may be doing, be it standing, sitting, lying down, speaking or whatever, you should do with mindfulness. When you are able to establish this mindfulness, you’ll find that there will arise clear comprehension associated with it, and these two conditions will bring about wisdom. Thus mindfulness, clear comprehension and wisdom will work together, and you’ll be like one who is awake both day and night.
These Teachings left us by the The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata are not Teachings to be just listened to, or simply absorbed on an intellectual level. They are Teachings that through practice can be made to arise and known in our minds. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we should have these Teachings. And what we mean by “to have these Teachings” or “to have the Truth,” is that, whatever we do or say, we do and say with wisdom. When we think and contemplate, we do so with wisdom. We say that one who has mindfulness and clear comprehension combined in this way with wisdom, is one who is close to the The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata.
When you leave here, you should practice bringing everything back to your own mind. Look at your mind with this mindfulness and clear comprehension and develop this wisdom. With these three conditions there will arise a “letting go.” You’ll know the constant arising and passing away of all phenomena.
You should know that that which is arising and passing away is only the activity of mind. When something arises, it passes away and is followed by further arising and passing away. In the Way ofDoctrine-True Practice of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata we call this arising and passing away “birth and death”; and this is everything — this is all there is! When suffering has arisen, it passes away, and, when it has passed away, suffering arises again.There’s just suffering arising and passing away. When you see this much, you’ll be able to know constantly this arising and passing away; and, when your knowing is constant, you’ll see that this is really all there is. Everything is just birth and death. It’s not as if there is anything which carries on. There’s just this arising and passing away as it is — that’s all.
This kind of seeing will give rise to a tranquil feeling of dispassion towards the world. Such a feeling arises when we see that actually there is nothing worth wanting; there is only arising and passing away, a being born followed by a dying. This is when the mind arrives at “letting go,” letting everything go according to its own nature. Things arise and pass away in our mind, and we know. When happiness arises, we know; when dissatisfaction arises, we know. And this “knowing happiness” means that we don’t identify with it as being ours. And likewise with dissatisfaction and unhappiness, we don’t identify with them as being ours. When we no longer identify with and cling to happiness and suffering, we are simply left with the natural way of things.
So we say that mental activity is like the deadly poisonous cobra. If we don’t interfere with a cobra, it simply goes its own way. Even though it may be extremely poisonous, we are not affected by it; we don’t go near it or take hold of it, and it doesn’t bite us. The cobra does what is natural for a cobra to do. That’s the way it is. If you are clever you’ll leave it alone. And so you let be that which is good. You also let be that which is not good — let it be according to its own nature. Let be your liking and your disliking, the same way as you don’t interfere with the cobra.
So, one who is intelligent will have this kind of attitude towards the various moods that arise in the mind. When goodness arises, we let it be good, but we know also. We understand its nature. And, too, we let be the not-good, we let it be according to its nature. We don’t take hold of it because we don’t want anything. We don’t want evil, neither do we want good. We want neither heaviness nor lightness, happiness nor suffering. When, in this way, our wanting is at an end, peace is firmly established.
When we have this kind of peace established in our minds, we can depend on it. This peace, we say, has arisen out of confusion. Confusion has ended. The The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata called the attainment of final Awakenment an “extinguishing,” in the same way that fire is extinguished. We extinguish fire at the place at which it appears. Wherever it is hot, that’s where we can make it cool. And so it is with Awakenment. Nibbana is found in Samsara. Awakenment and delusion (Samsara) exist in the same place, just as do hot and cold. It’s hot where it was cold and cold where it was hot. When heat arises, the coolness disappears, and when there is coolness, there’s no more heat. In this way Nibbana and Samsara are the same.
We are told to put an end to Samsara, which means to stop the ever-turning cycle of confusion. This putting an end to confusion is extinguishing the fire. When external fire is extinguished there is coolness. When the internal fires of sensual craving, aversion and delusion are put out, then this is coolness also.
This is the nature of Awakenment; it’s the extinguishing of fire, the cooling of that which was hot. This is peace. This is the end of Samsara, the cycle of birth and death. When you arrive at Awakenment, this is how it is. It’s an ending of the ever-turning and ever-changing, an ending of greed, aversion and delusion in our minds. We talk about it in terms of happiness because this is how worldly people understand the ideal to be, but in reality it has gone beyond. It is beyond both happiness and suffering. It’s perfect peace.
So as you go you should take this Teaching which I have given you and contemplate it carefully. Your stay here hasn’t been easy and I have had little opportunity to give you instruction, but in this time you have been able to study the real meaning of our practice. May this practice lead you to happiness; may it help you grow in Truth. May you be freed from the suffering of birth and death.
Spiritual Community of The Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata
While meditating under the Bo tree in the forest at Gaya (now Bodhgaya, India) during the full-moon night of May, the Bodhisatta becomes the The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata (age 36).
During the full-moon night of July, the The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata delivers his first discourse near Varanasi, introducing the world to the Four Noble Truths and commencing a 45-year career of teaching the religion he called “Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata-vinaya.”
Setting the Wheel of in Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata in Motion
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
“There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
“And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
“Now this, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
“And this, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
“And this, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of that very craving.
“And this, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of stress’… ‘This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended’… ‘This noble truth of stress has been comprehended.’
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the origination of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the origination of stress is to be abandoned’ … ‘This noble truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned.’
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the cessation of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be directly experienced’… ‘This noble truth of the cessation of stress has been directly experienced.’
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress is to be developed’… ‘This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress has been developed.’
“And, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, as long as this knowledge & vision of mine — with its three rounds & twelve permutations concerning these four noble truths as they actually are present — was not pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk. But as soon as this knowledge & vision of mine — with its three rounds & twelve permutations concerning these four noble truths as they actually are present — was truly pure, then I did claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its devas, Maras & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk. Knowledge & vision arose in me: ‘Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.’”
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the group of five True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata delighted at his words. And while this explanation was being given, there arose to Ven. Kondañña the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye: Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.
And when the Blessed One had set the Wheel of Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata in motion, the earth devas cried out: “At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata that cannot be stopped by priest or contemplative, deva, Mara or God or anyone in the cosmos.” On hearing the earth devas’ cry, the devas of the Four Kings’ Heaven took up the cry… the devas of the Thirty-three… the Yama devas… the Tusita devas… the Nimmanarati devas… the Paranimmita-vasavatti devas… the devas of Brahma’s retinue took up the cry: “At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by priest or contemplative, deva, Mara, or God or anyone at all in the cosmos.”
So in that moment, that instant, the cry shot right up to the Brahma worlds. And this ten-thousand fold cosmos shivered & quivered & quaked, while a great, measureless radiance appeared in the cosmos, surpassing the effulgence of the devas.
Then the Blessed One exclaimed: “So you really know, Kondañña? So you really know?” And that is how Ven. Kondañña acquired the name Añña-Kondañña — Kondañña who knows.
Notes
1. The Pali phrases for the four noble truths are grammatical anomalies. From these anomalies, some scholars have argued that the expression “noble truth” is a later addition to the texts. Others have argued even further that the content of the four truths is also a later addition. Both of these arguments are based on the unproven assumption that the language The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata spoke was grammatically regular, and that any irregularities were later corruptions of the language. This assumption forgets that the languages of The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata’s time were oral dialects, and that the nature of such dialects is to contain many grammatical irregularities. Languages tend to become regular only when being used to govern a large nation state or to produce a large body of literature: events that happened in India only after The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata’s time. (A European example: Italian was a group of irregular oral dialects until Dante fashioned it into a regular language for the sake of his poetry.) Thus the irregularity of the Pali here is no proof either for the earliness or lateness of this particular teaching.
2. Another argument for the lateness of the expression “noble truth” is that a truth — meaning an accurate statement about a body of facts — is not something that should be abandoned. In this case, only the craving is to be abandoned, not the truth about craving. However, in Vedic Sanskrit — as in modern English — a “truth” can mean both a fact and an accurate statement about a fact. Thus in this case, the “truth” is the fact, not the statement about the fact, and the argument for the lateness of the expression does not hold.
3. The discussion in the four paragraphs beginning with the phrase, “Vision arose…,” takes two sets of variables — the four noble truths and the three levels of knowledge appropriate to each — and lists their twelve permutations. In ancient Jambudvipa That is The Great Prabuddha Bharath philosophical and legal traditions, this sort of discussion is called a wheel. Thus, this passage is the Wheel of Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata from which the discourse takes its name.
During the full-moon night of July, the The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata delivers his first discourse near Varanasi, introducing the world to the Four Noble Truths and commencing a 45-year career of teaching the religion he called “Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata-vinaya.”
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five monks:
“There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
“And what is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle way realized by the Tathagata that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
“Now this, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.
“And this, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, is the noble truth of the origination of stress: the craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
“And this, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of that very craving.
“And this, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress: precisely this Noble Eightfold Path — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of stress’… ‘This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended’… ‘This noble truth of stress has been comprehended.’
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the origination of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the origination of stress is to be abandoned’ … ‘This noble truth of the origination of stress has been abandoned.’
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the cessation of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the cessation of stress is to be directly experienced’… ‘This noble truth of the cessation of stress has been directly experienced.’
“Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before: ‘This is the noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress’… ‘This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress is to be developed’… ‘This noble truth of the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress has been developed.’
“And, True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata, as long as this knowledge & vision of mine — with its three rounds & twelve permutations concerning these four noble truths as they actually are present — was not pure, I did not claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk. But as soon as this knowledge & vision of mine — with its three rounds & twelve permutations concerning these four noble truths as they actually are present — was truly pure, then I did claim to have directly awakened to the right self-awakening unexcelled in the cosmos with its devas, Maras & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk. Knowledge & vision arose in me: ‘Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.’”
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the group of five True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata delighted at his words. And while this explanation was being given, there arose to Ven. Kondañña the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye: Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.
And when the Blessed One had set the Wheel of Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata in motion, the earth devas cried out: “At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata that cannot be stopped by priest or contemplative, deva, Mara or God or anyone in the cosmos.” On hearing the earth devas’ cry, the devas of the Four Kings’ Heaven took up the cry… the devas of the Thirty-three… the Yama devas… the Tusita devas… the Nimmanarati devas… the Paranimmita-vasavatti devas… the devas of Brahma’s retinue took up the cry: “At Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by priest or contemplative, deva, Mara, or God or anyone at all in the cosmos.”
So in that moment, that instant, the cry shot right up to the Brahma worlds. And this ten-thousand fold cosmos shivered & quivered & quaked, while a great, measureless radiance appeared in the cosmos, surpassing the effulgence of the devas.
Then the Blessed One exclaimed: “So you really know, Kondañña? So you really know?” And that is how Ven. Kondañña acquired the name Añña-Kondañña — Kondañña who knows.
Notes
1. The Pali phrases for the four noble truths are grammatical anomalies. From these anomalies, some scholars have argued that the expression “noble truth” is a later addition to the texts. Others have argued even further that the content of the four truths is also a later addition. Both of these arguments are based on the unproven assumption that the language The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata spoke was grammatically regular, and that any irregularities were later corruptions of the language. This assumption forgets that the languages of The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata’s time were oral dialects, and that the nature of such dialects is to contain many grammatical irregularities. Languages tend to become regular only when being used to govern a large nation state or to produce a large body of literature: events that happened in India only after The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata’s time. (A European example: Italian was a group of irregular oral dialects until Dante fashioned it into a regular language for the sake of his poetry.) Thus the irregularity of the Pali here is no proof either for the earliness or lateness of this particular teaching.
2. Another argument for the lateness of the expression “noble truth” is that a truth — meaning an accurate statement about a body of facts — is not something that should be abandoned. In this case, only the craving is to be abandoned, not the truth about craving. However, in Vedic Sanskrit — as in modern English — a “truth” can mean both a fact and an accurate statement about a fact. Thus in this case, the “truth” is the fact, not the statement about the fact, and the argument for the lateness of the expression does not hold.
3. The discussion in the four paragraphs beginning with the phrase, “Vision arose…,” takes two sets of variables — the four noble truths and the three levels of knowledge appropriate to each — and lists their twelve permutations. In ancient Jambudvipa That is The Great Prabuddha Bharath philosophical and legal traditions, this sort of discussion is called a wheel. Thus, this passage is the Wheel of Doctrine-Practice of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Blessed,Noble,Awakened One-The Tathagata from which the discourse takes its name.